Marriage

Just after the fifth watch, the sky was still dark.

Sun Shaozong rose silently from bed and called for Ruier, who was on night duty, to help him wash and dress.

Once everything was in order, he headed out toward the faint glow on the horizon and made straight for the Front Yard.

"Second Master."

Zhao Zhongji, his face full of weariness, had long been waiting outside the second gate. Seeing Sun Shaozong emerge, he hurriedly perked up, followed at his side with a fawning stoop, and reported, "Guard Wang came seeking an audience just after the fifth watch. He said he had received your instructions..."

"He came early enough."

As Sun Shaozong strode toward the reception hall, he ordered, "Have breakfast served in the reception hall today."

Zhao Zhongji agreed repeatedly, then followed behind for another hundred paces or so. Only when they neared the reception hall and he saw that Sun Shaozong had no further orders did he quietly head to the kitchen to pass along the instructions.

When Sun Shaozong entered the reception hall, he did not wait for Wang Zhen to step forward and pay his respects before getting straight to the point. "Zhang Cheng must have told you already. I found some clues yesterday, and after thinking it over, there are roughly two ways to proceed."

Wang Zhen promptly pricked up his ears.

Sun Shaozong first settled into the seat of honor before continuing, "The first is naturally to investigate in secret, strive to find conclusive evidence, and then capture the criminals in one sweep. This method is sound, but it may very well yield no solid evidence."

"The second is to simply alert the enemy. If that throws them into disarray, we will have an opening to exploit. As for the drawback, if we